Taking captivity captive

[StriperAddict]

A great verse explained very well.
From David Moss - Freedom in Christ Movement

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TAKING THOUGHTS CAPTIVE

I have read the verse below probably hundreds of times and have heard many lessons on it. The general idea Ive always had and have been taught is that if a bad thought comes into my mind, I’m to take it captive and discard it and not let it take root.
And while that is a good practice, I don’t believe that is what this verse is saying.
Taking it in context, if we read the verses before it, Paul speaks of a war, a battle.

Now stop for a second right there. Where does a battle take place? On a battlefield. Where is the battlefield in a spiritual war? The mind.
We cannot fight a spiritual battle with human reasoning. Paul says we are equipped with divine power (from the Holy Spirit in us). He fights the battle.
But what are we fighting? Strongholds. Fortresses.
Where are these strongholds? In the mind, which is where the battle is!

What are these strongholds? They are thoughts, ideas, false arguments, especially biblical doctrines that don’t match up with the truth of the gospel.
***They set themselves up against the knowledge of God.***
You see it takes power from the Holy Spirit to know the love and grace of God. See Eph 3:14-19.
The more you know His love and grace, then the easier it is to recognize false doctrines and take them captive in our minds and discard them.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Spiritual warfare is often a battle between law (self righteousness) and grace (Christ righteousness). If Satan can get a believer to mix law and grace, that person will live in bondage.
Many of these thoughts/ ideas point to ourselves rather than Christ. Such as:
—Living for God rather than Christ living through us
—Placing our emphasis on what we are doing for Christ rather than what He has done for us.

A GOOD QUESTION

You may say- ‘Well how do we know if a thought, idea or doctrine is wrong and to know which ones to take captive?’
Excellent question and I’ve learned there is one foolproof way to know.....

Does what you hold true and believe set you free in Christ or does it put you in bondage?

Jesus said you will know the truth (Himself) and the Truth will set you free. Therefore, error will put you in bondage.
Any kind of rules based system of “living the Christian life” that places the emphasis on YOU and what you are doing or not doing is a thought, idea, doctrine that needs to be taken captive to the obedience of Christ.

What is the obedience of Christ? It is the obedience of FAITH- living by trust in Him so that He will express His life in you and through you. Rom 1:5, 16:26.
So let’s hold fast the truth of the knowledge of God in the revelation of Gods love and grace toward us who believe and discard anything contrary to the freedom we have in Him.

 

[gordon 2]

Lots of people are going to Corinthians these days.

Wiki says this about what Corinthians is about:

"1 Corinthians challenges believers to examine every area of life through the lens of the Gospel. Specifically, Paul addresses divisions among believers, food, sexual integrity, worship gatherings, and the resurrection."

Personally spiritual warfare issues don't seem to be issues of law vs grace or a mix of these in the greater context of life. Rather the issue of warfare is simply the life of the world vs the life of the born again.

What are the divisions among believers today as they are buffeted by the world? The divisions are not exactly the same as they were for the Corinthians, but they exit for real today and are serious.

Corinthians is used frequently, especially in the last month or so here and in sermons, to try to give an example on how to get to unity and bypass the serious divisions and complex issues which are for believers social and spiritual realities today.


On the idea of "with the capture of" "on trusting him" or "It is the obedience of FAITH- living by trust in Him so that He will express His life in you and through you." is this not the old political rhetoric of " In God we trust." and of a people at war with itself and more than not used as propaganda in a cause?

I feel uneasy about it. Does faith pull or push us? Do we queue up to faith or does faith cue us to life?

 

[StriperAddict]

Faith cues us to the Life of Christ in and thru us.

It's not "political rhetoric " to those who walk in trust/dependence on Christ. It's life from the dead. As He is so also are we in this world. You need to choose to believe it for yourself. All ELSE is religious political rhetoric.

 

[StriperAddict]

A fuller study, what peace we have from truth renewing our minds.
- with thanks to Matt McMillen Ministries:
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Peace with God isn’t something we work for in an ongoing way. As Christians, peace with God is what we have in full. Why is this?
# The Cross. What Jesus did.

*"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom 5:1)*

What could possibly break your peace with God? Only sins. But what did Jesus do with all of your sins at the Cross? **He absorbed them in Himself.**

*"God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21)*

Like the Pharisees, this is hard for the behavior-centered person to fathom. **They cannot compute the fact that all our sins were paid for in full at the Cross.** They see this as a license to sin because they don't fully believe in the power of the blood of Jesus. In fact, they get angry about it—or worse in my opinion—they begin to chop His complete forgiveness up into compartments.

**They'll say we’re only justified, but we gotta keep working for our sanctification—or else we no longer have peace with God. **Yet what does the Bible say is the ONLY THING that can sanctify us? *Blood* (Heb 10:10). Is Jesus repeatedly dying? No. Is He repeatedly pouring out His blood to sanctify us more? No. *It is finished* (John 19:30, Heb 1:3, 10:12).

Deal with it. **Deal with your complete peace with God, Christian.** Deal with your full forgiveness. Deal with the passages that say you *have been* sanctified *and* justified, past tense (1 Cor 6:11, Rom 5:1). Stop belittling His blood with your dead works.

Your peace is final, friend. You can thank Jesus for what He's done for you. **He's worthy, and now, so are you.** Romans 3:23 doesn't describe you. You’re described in Romans 5:1. Why?
# YOUR SAVIOR: J.E.S.U.S.

MAKE A BIGGER DEAL OF JESUS. He has guaranteed your peace with God forever.

## www.mattmcmillen.com